Cloudburst Foundation

Let us work together. To not only do less harm but also to do most good.

Cloudburst Foundation

Let us work together. To not only do less harm but also to do most good.

AboutCloudburst Foundation

Our mission is to advance a movement of cross-sectoral collaboration to regenerate the wealth of Earth’s commons. Our Vision is a world where humanity collaborates as a keystone community and restores health and well-being to the planet and all people.

The Cloudburst Foundation was founded in 2014, and is a non-profit organization with headquarters on Lake Como, Italy. Cloudburst supports programs that have global reach, while also engaging deeply on ecological regeneration in Italy. The Foundation’s primary focus is on policy and communications. We work closely with global leaders to promote policies that move beyond do less harm efforts to ones that do most good. Our communications work focuses on effectively telling the story of regenerating the Earth’s commons and the living web—the shared ecological resources that are our collective heritage.

The Foundation has a partnership with the Commonwealth Secretariat to support member states to regenerate ecosystems while also addressing the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

The Commonwealth is the greatest leverage point for change in the global community.

60%

of the Commonwealth population is under 30 years old.

The 53 Commonwealth countries span Africa, Asia, the Americas, Europe and the Pacific, constitute one fifth of the world’s landmass and are home to one third of all humanity. They include the world’s largest, smallest, richest and poorest countries and 78% of the world’s oceans fall within their territories. An astonishing 60% of the Commonwealth population is under 30 years old. Great strength lies in the combination of its diversity and shared inheritance. There is a huge trade potential within the association due to common language, legal systems and institutions. Bilateral trade costs between Commonwealth partners are 19% lower when compared to other country pairings. Intra-Commonwealth trade is growing and is expected to reach $1 trillion by 2020. The Commonwealth is the greatest leverage point for change in the global community.

" There is no big solution, only many thousands of small ones. "

— Wendell Berry, poet and environmentalist

Our Story

During Cloudburst Foundation’s first years, we brought together some of the world’s best climate scientists, environmentalists, activists, economists, and global political leaders to share innovations, technologies, and knowledge on how to regenerate the health of planetary ecosystems.

Between October 2016 and June 2017, Cloudburst held critical convenings at the Commonwealth Secretariat in London. These served to uncover, and then amplify, the voices of practitioners working on ecological regeneration. They began with a gathering of climate experts, and followed with high level meetings of political representatives, financial, and business sector leaders. In each of these gatherings, Cloudburst tested new concepts and frameworks, and the feedback from participants —across sectors—was consistently positive. By introducing these insights into high leverage political dialogues, Cloudburst supported an emerging paradigm shift, toward a narrative around ecological regeneration and the living web. Many attendees, including high-level political representatives, have since introduced regenerative language into their communications, advocacy, and policy efforts. These convenings enabled Cloudburst to identify opportunities for its next phase of work.

Common Earth

Common Earth is an international consortium supporting efforts to regenerate the wealth of Earth’s commons to meet and exceed the UN Sustainable Development Goals. We have a partnership with the Commonwealth Secretariat to scale up regenerative development across 53 member states.

Paul Hawken

John Dennis Liù

John Elkington

Daniel Wahl

Daniel Wahl

Daniel Wahl

Janine Benyus

Biomimicry Institute & Biomimicry 3.8

Mohamed Amersi

Inclusive Ventures

Bill Reed

Regenesis Group

David McConville

Buckminster Fuller Institute & Spherical

Janine Benyus

Biomimicry Institute & Biomimicry 3.8

...this initiative embodies a welcome shift towards a more holistic approach to climate issues from which I believe other initiatives can draw strength — whether that be the work now seeking to link climate, agriculture, soils and landscape restoration, or the increasing global, scientific effort to understand the links between human and planetary health.

HRH Prince Charles of Wales

A new vision of global partnership must weave together the interlinked challenges of advancing sustainable development and stabilizing the climate system. Climate justice, I believe, can provide the basis for this approach; recognizing that taking climate action and ensuring a safer world for future generations is about a just transition; eliminating fossil fuel emissions while ensuring that people everywhere have their rights upheld and share the benefits of sustainable development. Regenerative development can play a significant role is ensuring we stay below 1.5 degrees Celsius and avoid the consequences of climate change.

Mary Robinson, former President of Ireland

“Although we come from different directions, we are all working on the same project: creating a life-affirming legacy.”